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WE DON'T CARE IF SCOTLAND BREAKS FREE, SAYS PAXMAN: ENGLAND WON'T BEG YOU TO STAY

Jeremy Paxman: England won’t beg you to stay

Saturday March 22,2008

By Paul Gilbride

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(5)

BBC presenter Jeremy Paxman has sparked another cross border row by claiming England could not care less if Scotland becomes independent.

The tough-talking Newsnight host said Scots should ditch any notion that English people are the slightest bit worried about Scotland quitting the Union.

And he claimed people north of the Border should "snap out of" the sense their English cousins are bothered by independence.

He said: "It is like watching a marriage decay among friends. But if that’s what they want well let them do it.

"You really ought to snap out of this sense that everyone down here is worried about it. They are not."

Paxman is no stranger to controversy north of the Border and once claimed it was "tremendously good fun winding Scots up" because it was so easy.

And he also once referred to former Home Secretary John Reid as the Labour Government’s "attack dog".

He has also previously accused Scots of having a "chip on their shoulder" about their nationality and said "a Scottish Raj" was running Britain.

But last year the acid-tongued newsman was seen weeping in an episode of TV geneology show Who Do You Think You Are?.

He cried when he found out that his family actually hailed from Glasgow, and that his great great grandmother had died in poverty from TB and exhaustion.

He made his latest comments came in the BBC1 Scotland documentary, "What do the English Really Think of the Scots?" to be broadcast next Tuesday.

During an interview with Scots presenter Hardeep Singh Kholi, Paxman says: "I think the view down here would be ’if our friends in Scotland decide they don’t want the Union to continue any longer, well that is a judgement for them’.

"And if they really don’t want to be sharing the same house with us, and want to move out, well that’ s a bit of a shame.

Of the Union he added: "If people north of the Border are really so bothered about it, that it has to be broken, then I honestly don’t think there’s going to be a great deal of people down here saying ’please don’t do it’."

But Scottish Tory leader Annabel Goldie said Paxman seemed to be accepting the SNP’s "patently false" claims that most Scots wanted to quit Britain.

She said: "It is understandable Jeremy Paxman may have that impression given that people in England are constantly bombarded with stories about Scots being unhappy with the Union.

She said: "Most people in Scotland want to stay in the UK. It is only the gripe and grudge politics of the SNP stirring up resentment north of the Border that has made this an issue at all.

"The fact is that most people in Scotland value the Union and want to remain part of Britain. They do not want to end what has been a very strong, very beneficial marriage.

"Mr Paxman should also realise that fewer than one in four Scots supports independence according to a recent poll which put it at 23 per cent.

"That’s lower than before last May’s Holyrood elections."

But SNP MSP Nigel Don, who was born and brought up south of the Border, said: "For once Jeremy Paxman appears to be taking a serious view of the relationship between Scotland and England, and that has to be welcomed.

"Like him I am convinced that most people in England would be relaxed about having a 21st century partnership with Scotland."

Recently Paxman courted controversy when he said Marks and Spencer’s underpants were no longer as well made as they one were and he donated a pair for a charity auction.

A spokesman for Labour Party leader Wendy Alexander said:"He should stick to talking pants as he seems to know a lot about underwear.

"But we do not know if people in England feel that he speaks for them. But we do know that thr vast majority of Scots want to stay in the Union.

"Recent polls have shown that support for independence has actually fallen since before last May’s elections with less than a quarter of voters now backing Scotland separating itself from the rest of Britain."

It is like watching a marriage decay among friends. But if that’s what they want well let them do it

Jeremy Paxman

WE DON'T CARE IF SCOTLAND

25.03.08, 4:31pm

I am always astounded by the claim that support for independence is at its lowest, no one has EVER asked me how I feel , and I suspect the majority of Scots are in the same category.
There are polls ,skewed to give particular results, and a very small number of people are polled.
I suspect if I were to conduct a poll amonst a 1000 acqauntances I could give 100% FOR independence.
I'm glad Mr Paxman thinks its OK for us to go our own way , if that is what we desire, however we don't need his permission!
Just remember , better a good neighbour than a surly one.
The conservatives were routed in Scotland ,it is nice to see them make a wee comeback, the Liberals have shot themselves in the foot and the Labour party continues to amuse with their inability to realise that they are NOT in power here!
C'mon England ! Get this dreadful union dissolved.

• Posted by: QueenD • Report Comment

WHO CARES?

23.03.08, 12:10pm

If England does not care about Scotland, how can it be in Scotland's best interests to allow the present constitutional arrangements to continue?

When Scotland breaks free of the clutches of its supercilious sneering southern neighbour, it will be welcomed with open arms by respectful new friends and neighbours in the international community.

Who cares about Scotland? You would be surprised, Mr Paxman.

• Posted by: Benedict • Report Comment

SCOTLAND BREAKS FREE

23.03.08, 10:40am

Yes Pleeeeeeease ! as soon as possible so that we can then be rid of the likes of Gordon Brown and Goebbels Mick etc. once and for all.

• Posted by: EmperorMing • Report Comment

WHO DOES PAXMAN THINK HE IS

22.03.08, 7:36pm

Why are comments from the likes of Paxman headline news in Scotland.
Paxman is a TV presenter, a monkey could be a TV presenter. You get all dolled up and read a script already prepared for you.
How does that give him the right to make such irrelevant sweeping comments.
This is irresponsible and irrelevant and a waste of paper.

He hasn't a clue about the subject and should stick to what he does best which is .......er............em........ - what does he do again????????????????

• Posted by: Rankin • Report Comment

MR. PAXMAN HAS A POINT.

22.03.08, 1:50pm

The unity of te UK ws essential for the unity of the Empire and the Royal Navy, in the beginning it was to deter fifth columns against the French.

We're not Balkanized we generally like each other, kin in three parts, kith in the other. Scotland's UNCRC submission to the UN was a scribbled note on the back of an envelope.

They define nationality within the context of naughty Saxons. The Itish are held up as good exmples despite the fact we've been cutting our owwn throats for 800 years.

THe main thing is that the Irish are better looking, other than that, it is all a bit of fluff.

• Posted by: Taziana • Report Comment